Battery identification tag



July 19, 1938. o. N. OLSON BATTERY IDENTIFICATION TAG .Zhrenfar Patented July 19, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIQE 1 Claim.

My present invention primarily relates to improved means for identification of storage batteries brought into service stations for the purpose of recharging or repair.

It has been customary practice in battery service stations to identify the batteries by various different kinds of tags that are. temporarily secured to the battery by string, wire or the like, or to make such identifications by chalk marks applied directly to the battery. There has been a great deal of trouble experienced in the trade as a result of identification tags becoming accidentally torn ofi in the process of handling or destroyed by attack from the battery acid. In some cases the tags themselves would become destroyed or the identification thereon damaged beyond the point of legibility, and in some cases the acid would attack the string or wire attaching the tag so that the tag would become unattached and the battery left without identification. Also when chalk or similar materials were used for applying identifications directly to the battery, such marks would often become rubbed off or washed off in the process of handling, and under any of these conditions causing loss of identification, batteries would become mixed up and owners often received the wrong battery. This, of course, is not only undesirable from the owners point of view but is very embarrassing to the service station operators.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an identification tab which is non-corrosive or highly resistive to the attack of acid and therefore is permanent in character and which can be quickly but securely attached to the battery. To this end I provide a small flat faced tab of non-corrosive material having formed therein the suitable means of identification, such as a serial number, and provided at one edge with a spear-like projection projecting in the plane of the face of the tab. This spear-like end is adapted to be inserted by longitudinal endwise pressure into the sealing compounds of a battery, which sealing compounds are of a pitch-like or wax-like substance of soft enough character to permit relatively easy insertion of the spearlike end of the tab and have a sticky quality which will hold the spear-like end of the tab against accidental displacement after it has been inserted. The spear-like ends of these tabs are relatively soft and easily bent so that after insertion intothe wax of the spear-like end of the tab the projecting body of the tab can be bent over and laid fiat against the face of the battery.

From the operators point of view it is highly desirable to have a large number of such identification tabs consecutively serial numbered, and it is desirable from a record-keeping point of view that these serial numbered tabs be used consecutively in the order of their serial numbers; and to 5' this end it becomes important to provide means for accessibly filing a large number of consecutively numbered tags or tabs in such a manner that they can not become mixed up or lost and so that only tabs bearing the next-to-be-used few 10 which is easily broken or torn. To this end I also 20.

provide a filing rack on which a stack of tab slabs may be placed and retained in stacked order. This filing rack holds the stack of tab slabs in prearranged order and makes only tabs of the top slab available, so that the service station attend- 25 ant never has more than a very limited number of tabs to choose from. He has only to choose the highest numbered or otherwise marked tab to be insured of utilizing the tags in their correct order.

The above and other advantages of the inven- 30;

tion will be made apparent from the specification, claim and drawing. In the accompanying drawing like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawing: 35;

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of a conventional storage battery having applied thereto one of my identification tabs;

Fig. 2'is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front face view of a filing rack containing a partially used stack of tab slabs;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view 45 taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

The storage battery illustrated is of a conventional character and is of the type employing a box-like case 6 containing a plurality of cells, each of which cells is provided with a cell cover I. 50 The individual cell covers are provided with removable vent cups 8 and have projecting therefrom the cell terminals such as indicated at 9. In batteries of this character the cells of the battery are usually sealed tight by suitable com- 55 pound, such as pitch or wax compositions, that is poured in molten form into spaces between the tops of the cell covers and between the cell covers and battery casings 6. Such compound is indicated by ID and, as previously indicated, is of a plastic and sticky quality even when solidified.

The identification tabs of this invention each comprises a fiat body ll carrying on its smooth face suitable indicia such as a serial number and provided at one edge with a spear-like tip 12, which, in its original state, extends in the plane of the main body of the tab. The tabs, inclusive of their spear-like ends, are integrally cast, molded or otherwise formed from suitable noncorrosive material that is soft to permit permanent bending over of the portion joining the spear to the main body of the tab; and the indicia, such as a serial number, is preferably formed in or on the face of the tab by pressing, cutting or molding, so that the latter will be permanent in character. In practice I have found lead to be the most desirable material from which to form the tabs, and the simplest process of manufacture has been found to be the molding of the tabs from lead. Not only is lead non-corrosive when subject to battery acid, but it is sufficiently pliable to permit bending over of the projecting portion of the tab after the spear end thereof has been forced into the battery sealing compound. To secure a tab If to a battery, the main body of the tab is held firmly in the fingers and the projecting spear-like end l2 thereof is forced into the battery compound, as shown particularly by dotted lines in Fig. 2 and then the projecting portion of the tab is bent over and laid flat against the top face of the battery, as shown particularly by full lines in Figs. 1 and 2, in which position the body of the tab is well protected against the possibility of being scraped off.

As previously indicated, the tabs are preferably cast in integrally formed slabs of several each, and in commercial practice, as here illustrated, each slab, indicated as an entirety by i3, is composed of six tabs, adjacent of which tabs are joined by fragile connections [4 which permit breaking or tearing off of individual tabs from a slab of several.

The filing rack for holding a group of tab slabs and retaining the same in desired order comprises in its preferred form, herein illustrated, a backing plate l5 that is adapted to be secured to a wall or fixed by suitable screws applied through holes [6 and having at its lower end an outturned shelf forming flange I! and a retaining bar 18 carried by the backing plate l5 in out- Wardly spaced parallel relation thereto. The shelf forming flange i1 affords a basis of support upon which may be stacked a group of tab slabs l3. The tab slabs are stacked with their spear ends outwardly projecting and their rear end portions against the backing plate l5, and when so stacked, the bar l3 projects through the vertically extended valley provided between the spear-like ends l2 of the adjacent-to-center tabs of the stack slab of tabs, see particularly Fig. 4. The bar I8 is in the nature of a relatively stiff wire rod that is secured at its lower end by welding or the like to the under side of the shelf l1 and at its upper end is turned over and welded or otherwise suitably secured to the other end portion of the backing plate I5 at l9; and the rod or bar [8 is spaced from the backing plate I5 a distance a little greater than the length of the main body of the tabs but a distance less than the overall length of the main bodies of the tabs and their spear-like ends.

In this arrangement the tab slabs can only be removed by tilting the same, as shown for example by dotted lines in Fig. 5, and then withdrawing the same laterally. In practice the tab slabs are preferably pre-numbered consecutively from one side of the slab to the other, and the slabs are preferably stacked so that the lowest number on any tab in one slab will be the next higher number than the highest number in the tab slab next above it. If We assume that each tab slab is numbered consecutively from left toward the right, as for example, in accordance with Fig. 4, then the attendant having only a top slab in the stack available will tear off the tabs in the top slab progressively from left toward the right. After three tabs in one slab have been broken off the operator can keep the remaining portion of the slab locked in place by the bar l8 by merely shifting the remaining portion of the slab so that the bar l8 comes between adjacent spear-like ends. At least he can do this until only one tab remains, so that at no time will there be more than one tab loose.

By reference particularly to Figs. 2, 3 and 5 it will be seen that the portion of the spear-like ends of the tabs which join the spear-like ends to the main bodies of the tabs is thinner than that of the main body of the tab, so that under lateral bending pressure applied to the main bodies of the individual tabs when their respec tive spear-like ends are inserted into the battery sealing compound, bending will occur in the spear-like ends rather than in the main bodies. In other words, the maximum cross sectional areas of the spear-like ends are less than the minimum cross sectional areas of the main bodies. By further reference to the drawing it will be noted that the spear-like ends are tapered toward their free ends from their points of jointure to the main bodies so when the spear-like ends are projected to varying extent into the battery sealing compound, the weakest and most easily bent portion thereof outward of the battery sealing compound will be immediately adjacent such compound so that under the above described bending pressure the tabs may be bent flat against the top of the battery.

What I claim is:

A battery identification tab integrally formed of ductile battery acid resisting material and comprising a flat main body adapted to carry suitable indicla, and a spear-like portion projecting from one edge of the main body and adapted to be inserted into the sealing compound of a battery to secure the tab to the battery, said spear-like portion having a maximum cross sectional area less than that of the main body and which tapers toward its free end from its point of jointure to the main body, so that when said spear-like end portion is inserted to any varying extent into the battery sealing compound its weakest and most easily bent portion outward of the sealing compound will be immediately adjace'nt the sealing compound, whereby when lateral bending pressure is applied through the main body the main body will resist such pressure as is necessary to bend the spear-like end and said spear-like end will bendimm-ediately outward of the sealing compound.

OLE N. OLSON. 

